


The Prank To Kill All Pranks

by LinhamonRoll



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Basically no angst, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Homophobia, M/M, Pranks, Swearing, but not much either, dont worry it’s not much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-06-24 17:05:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19728004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinhamonRoll/pseuds/LinhamonRoll
Summary: An homophobic teacher assumes Keefe is that Straight boy and use him to prove a point. Oh boy was he wrong.Or the fake dating au you all know and love





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fake dating is my favorite trope ever, so I had to write it for Kam. I don’t know how often I will update, but hopefully, not too long between each.

Keefe didn't really know how everything started. He had been putting his stuff in his bag when everyone looked at him.  
Not knowing what was happening was not surprising, seeing as it happened 90% of the time, at least in class. What do you want, doodling was definitely more interesting than anything the teacher was saying.

He listened to the tape he always had in is back pocket. He needed an answer. Why was he suddenly the center of the attention?

At first when he put his earphones on, he only heard some people chatting. Then he heard a girl talking to her friend, he supposed. So far nothing really stood out.

"Of course you can't take your girlfriend to the ball. It's disgusting."

Ok no. He wouldn't have it. He was gonna punch this prick as soon as he knew who that was. Who still thought that being gay was a sin in 2019? Seriously?

"But-sir !"

Oh. It was the teacher. No punching then, but Keefe would make sure that this man never talked like that to someone ever again.

"The day Keefe Sencen brings a boy to the ball, I might reconsider." Oh so this was what everything was about.  
The teacher thought he was the straitest straight boy ever ? He could work with that.

It was too tempting. Plus, thanks to what he was going to do, everyone would be able to ask the person they wanted to the ball.

He pulled his earphones out, feeling the eyes of the students on him. Keefe made eye contact with the teacher. This was going to be so so good.

"I have a boyfriend !" 

He would have payed to see the teacher's face. He spited out the coffee he just sipped and then proceeded to look like he had chocked on a rainbow.

Keefe had to bite his cheek to avoid laughing in his face.

The teacher stood up."Very well." His tone wasn't fooling anyone. He was so rigid he would have made a perfect table, in Keefe's opinion. He couldnt hold it anymore, and giggled.

Keefe had The Realisation in the library, almost two hours after his now iconic line (around the school, that is), while trying to do his homework (but he was mainly doodling in the margins of his papers). Who the fuck could he ask to be his boyfriend?

He couldn't ask Fitz, everyone knew he was dating Dex, he couldn't ask Wylie euther because ew, Jensi simply wasn't an option, and he couldn't just ask a random dude. Or maybe he could ? He could just ask around until sometime agreed...

"Oh!"He slammed his hands on the table and fist bumped the air.

"Hush!" Oops, the librarian didn't seem to like his outburst very much, which was understandable.

"Sorry, miss" at least she seemed to be satisfied with his apology.

This was perfect. This would cause at least twice the chaos as dating anyone else. This was frigging perfect. He was a genius. Now how to convince someone who hates your guts to fake date you ?

Keefe sighed and rested his head in his arms. The price would be high, but it was worth it.

***

Tam knew something was wrong when he found a cup of coffee on his desk that morning. He became even more suspicious when he read what was written on the cup. This was his favorite mix, with soy milk and not the shirt they usually used and everything.

He shrugged and took it. The paper cup was warm against his skin. He would marry coffee if he could. After all, being married to his favourite drink ever had lots of advantages : doesn't talk much, doesn't take space, and can keep him up all night (pun intended).

Plus, he had only drank one cup of coffee yet, who was he to not drink it.

The weirdness didn't stop here, though. When crashed in his dorm at lunch, determined to finish his essay before the weekend, Keefe was waiting for him with a paper bag and a bottle of water in his hands.

"So you don't dehydrate or starve," He said handing him the bottle and the paper bag, which, as he would discover latter on, contained his favorite chocolate muffin.

Keefe stayed in their room not talking or anything, just eating his sandwich instead of leaving like he usually did. Like he didn't hate Tam's guts. Almost like they were friends.

When Keefe brought him a second cup of coffee after seeing Tam still working on his essay at 11pm, Tam snapped. He didn't believe any of the nice act. Keefe had always hated him and it wasn't about to change.

"What. The. Fuck. Do you want ? Don't try to make me believe that you are suddenly not being a pain in my ass without ulterior motives." He had closed his laptop to look at Keefe.

There was no way Keefe was trying to genuinely befriend him. He had hated Tam since the first day of school, as soon as he knew who he would share a dorm with.

Crazy how someone so gorgeousness could be a massive prick. Didn't stop Tam from being hopelessly in love with him.

"What do you want from me ?" He asked again. "Need me to join your cult ? I look dashing in black robes, you know ? Or maybe you finally realized how better at everything I am and want me to become your master ? I can work with that."

Keefe bite his cheek and muttered sometime under his breath that kind of sounded like "I can't believe I'm doing this" and looked at Tam.

"Will you be my boyfriend ?"

What the fuck ?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is not betaed, and English is not my first language, so please point out any spelling or grammar mistake

Of all the things that could- no he had to have heard that wrong- there was no way in- but what if he- no definitely not. There was no way Keefe was asking him on a real date. This was a prank he realized. Keefe had to have figured- oh fuck. Nonononononononono. What was he gonna do ? He would never- where was he- oh nononono ! He had nowhere else to go ! This couldn’t be happening. This was just a way for Keefe to ridiculize him! But what if- 

“You okay mate ?” Keefe’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “I didn’t think you would be so afraid of me being queer. It's not like I'm the only gay in our friend grouo.”

“What ?” Tam’s voice was hoarse. As if that would be a problem to him. He had known he was gay for years. Keefe didn’t though. Oh. Maybe that was why he thought that. Yeah that made sense. Why didn’t that occure to him sooner ? Tam frowned.

Keefe might have taken that frown for something other than it was since he repeated what he probably had said before. “Me asking you to pretend to be my boyfriend to get back to an homophobic teacher ?” Keefe raised an eyebrow. 

He must have been dreaming. There was no way in hell someone could be this stupid. Really ? Just to prank a teacher? He couldn’t say that it was totally out of character but still.

Tam barely held back his laugh, still letting a little huff out.

“Oh. Why ask me ? Everyone knows we hate each other!” This was totally idiotic! This had zero chances of working ! No one would believe them ! Seriously, it was a miracle that he had not yet cracked up.

“Look,” Keefe got up from his bed. “The teacher just assume that I was the straightest boy around, and now if I don’t take a boy to the ball, no gay couple will be able to. Just because some homophobic asshole decided that he didn’t like that. I just- look, if you don’t want to do this that’s fine, I’ll just ask around.”

This actually made sense. And Tam honestly wouldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t do something for those students.

Tam got up. “Fine.” He held his hand for Keefe to shake. “I’ll do it. But my rules, and it’s gonna cost you a lot.”

“I was hoping you would say that.”

God this smirk.

*****

When tam had said that it would cost him, he hadn’t been lying. Seriously? Two fucking month of laundry ? Two fucking month ? It was still worth it though. There was no way he was going to let that slide, even if it meant dating his sworn enemy (people don’t have sworn enemies Keefe !) (yes they do !). And eh, at least, Tam was quite hot, despite being a prick. 

They had set ground rules the night before, and to be honest, Keefe would have never thought Tam would be as okay with showing affection to a guy. He was basically okay with everything except for kisses. It was more than anything Keefe would have hoped. 

They also agreed on a believable back story for their relationship, and honestly, it was pretty good. After all, every fangirl could agree that lots of things could happen in a shared dorm.

He loved every bit of this prank. 

When they came in the cafeteria this morning, holding hands, a girl squealed in the back, yelling that her ship was canon. Their friends, except Biana, who gave them a knowing look, all made a similar chocking noise and turned various shades of red. The Biana part honestly bothered him a little, but he would deal with her in due time

They mostly had seemed to accept it as a reality by their second period, and didn’t make any reaction anymore. This was almost a bit too quick. He confronted Sophie about it. Last time, when Biana, Linh and her finally got together, the whole group had talked about it for a week.

“We all knew you two were dating.” She shrugged. “We just wondered when you would make it official.”

Whaaaaaaaaaat ? How could they think that ? They were polar opposites. They had hated each other since the first day of school ! They were willing to hangout out with each other because they weren’t both friends with the sameness people, but otherwise they wouldn’t-

“What ? We don’t exactly act lovey dovey with each other.” Not the irony in his voice.

Sophie stared at him like he was missing the obvious. That’s was one of her distinctive Sophie Foster looks, one of those that made you feel like the most stupid idiot sandwich ever.

“You look at him like he hung the moon and stars. And honestly? So does he. He just gravitates around you like you’re the sun or something. I’m sorry, but yes, you were obvious.”

Okay so Keefe didn’t expect that. He didn’t look at Tam like he hunted the moon ! He was just daydreaming about cutting his entire soul in millions of pieces. And there was no wayTam would look at him like that. Tam wouldn’t even do that to someone he was in love with. He was too much of a prick for that. His friend was generally receptive, but for this one Sophie was definitely wrong. 

Keefe had been on his way to Tam’s classroom when he met with Sophie, so he definitely shouldn’t have been surprised when Tam got out, his bag on only one shoulder. What surprised Keefe even more, though, was the little peck planted on his cheek when Tam’s hand slid into Keefe’s. 

This was not what he was prepared for, but he would be damned if he said he couldn’t get used to this


	3. Chapter 3

Keefe could not deal with this. Flirting ? Sure, he did that on a daily basis. Showing affection ? Hugs are amazing ! But this ? This was out of his area of knowledge. The problem was not about dating a boy, or dating in general. No, the problem was a Dating Tam problem. 

It wasn’t because Keefe hated the guy, which was difficult when you hang around the same people and share a room. No. The problem was that it felt right and he still needed to keep the act up for at least a month. or maybe it was actually a month of dropping his act. 

The warmth of Tam’s lips on his cheek was still there, and Keefe wanted nothing more than to touch it. Wait. Why did Tam even kiss him? HE set the rule of no kissing. Then why ? why do that ? this little shit must have found out- No. this was not happenning. he changed his mind. that was it. 

It wasn’t until much later in there room when Keefe got a chance to ask.

“Why did you kiss me ?” Tam looked at him like it was obvious. maybe it was.

“Because that’s what boyfriends do,” he said.

“But what about the rules ?” Keefe was honestly so confused. Not only about the kiss, though that would be a good starting point.

“Cheek is fine by me, I just don’t want my first kiss on the lips to b while pretending.” Yeah that made sense. Wait would that mean that this would happen again ?

“Not if you don’t want it to.” Oh shit he said that out loud. Well at least now he knew. Keefe shrugged in a “fine by me” gesture. After all, this was the only chance he would ever get to do that, so why not enjoy himself as long as he could.

****

Oh crap Keefe hated him now. Why did Tam even kiss him ? It was obvious that he was uncomfortable now ! Of course he had to ruin this. He couldn’t just appreciate what he had right now ? Ugh. He was so stupid. He needed to do something.

A movie ? Yes ! This was the perfect opportunity: Keefe would see it as an apologizing gesture while Tam could enjoy their time together.

“Wanna watch something?” The words were out before he could overthink everything. Good. Now Keefe just needs to ....

“Sure.” Keefe flopped on Tam’s bed. “Supernatural ?” Don’t stop to think about what that means, don’t stop to think about what - “I know you haven’t watched it yet. Well, neither did I. Better buy popcorn when we go shopping now.” Fuck. Was this gonna turn into a routine? 

“Don’t you hate me ?” Tam didnt let himself hope. that was his only rule. But damn, it was becoming difficult to follow. 

“Nah, I know you don’t either.” True. Tam didn’t hate Keefe. Wait. Since when did Keefe not hate Tam ? “Don't act so surprised.” Oh. So it was visible. “You think i could hate someone who I have common friends with ? With who you’ve shared a dorm for years ? Come on!”

“With whom.” _Great thinking. He just told you he considered you his friend and you already act like an asshole._

“What ? Oh yeah ! Nevermind !” This idiot. _I love him so much_. This was going to be the death of Tam. There was no way he could survive a full month of this. He was going to burn. But damn, it felt good. 

Fuck it. He was going to enjoy this while he could, every second. He pressed play and snuggled up to Keefe. He felt keefe tense under him and worried that maybe it was too much and he had blown everything and-

Keefe relaxed and put an arm over Tam’s shoulders. 

oh. yeah this felt good. tam could feel every beat of keefe's heart. Focus. Supernal was still playing on Keefe's laptop. What was happening again ? oh yeah, they were trying to exorcise a house or something. 

It was actually a pretty good show ! A bit creepy but in a good way. Granted, Tam hadn't been focusing on the screen since Keefe had started stroking his hair, but still.

And if he fell asleep like that, that was his buisness and and no one else's.


	4. Chapter 4

Keefe could not deal with this. Flirting ? Sure, he did that on a daily basis. Showing affection ? Hugs are amazing ! But this ? This was out of his area of knowledge. The problem was not about dating a boy, or dating in general. No, the problem was a Dating Tam problem. 

It wasn’t because Keefe hated the guy, which was difficult when you hang around the same people and share a room. No. The problem was that it felt right and he still needed to keep the act up for at least a month. or maybe it was actually a month of dropping his act. 

The warmth of Tam’s lips on his cheek was still there, and Keefe wanted nothing more than to touch it. Wait. Why did Tam even kiss him? HE set the rule of no kissing. Then why ? why do that ? this little shit must have found out- No. this was not happenning. he just changed his mind. that was it. 

It wasn’t until much later in there room when Keefe got a chance to ask.

“Why did you kiss me ?” Tam looked at him like it was obvious. maybe it was.

“Because that’s what boyfriends do,” he said.

“But what about the rules ?” Keefe was honestly so confused. Not only about the kiss, though that would probably be a good starting point.

“Cheek is fine by me, I just don’t want my first kiss on the lips to b while pretending.” Yeah that made sense. Wait would that mean that this would happen again ?

“Not if you don’t want it to.” Oh shit he said that out loud. Well at least now he knew. Keefe shrugged in a “fine by me” gesture. After all, this was the only chance he would ever get to do that, so why not enjoy himself as long as he could.

****  
Oh crap Keefe hated him now. Why did Tam even kiss him ? It was obvious that he was uncomfortable now ! Of course he had to ruin this. He couldn’t just appreciate what he had right now ? Ugh. He was so stupid. He needed to do something.

A movie ? Yes ! This was the perfect opportunity: Keefe would see it as an apologizing gesture, and he would have time to appreciate that time they had together.

“Wanna watch something?” The words were out before he could overthink everything. Good. Now Keefe just needs to ....

“Sure.” Keefe flopped on Tam’s bed. “Supernatural ?” Don’t stop to think about what that means, don’t stop to think about what - “I know you haven’t watched it yet. Well, neither did I. Better buy popcorn when we go shopping now.” Fuck. Was this gonna turn into a routine? 

“Don’t you hate me ?” Tam didnt let himself hope. that was his only rule. But damn, it was becoming difficult to follow. 

“Nah, I know you don’t either.” True. Tam didn’t hate Keefe. Wait. SInce when Keefe didn’t hate Tam ? “dont act so surprised.” oh so it was visible. “You really think i could hate someone who you have common friends with ? with who you’ve shared a dorm for years ? come on!”

“With whom.” _Great thinking. He just told you he considered you his friend and you already act like an asshole._

“What ? Oh yeah ! Nevermind !” _This idiot. I love him so much._ This was going to be the death of Tam. There was no way he could survive a full month of this. He was going to burn. But damn it felt good.   
Fuck it. He was going to enjoy this while he could, each and every second. Tam pressed play and snuggled up to Keefe. Tam felt Keefe tense under him and worried that maybe it was too much and he had blown everything and-

Keefe relaxed and put an arm over Tam’s shoulders, like this was the most natural thing to do.

It was fine ! Keefe was touchy with his friends after all, so this wasn’t surprising ! Focus on the TV. The show was pretty good, if a bit creepy. Tam managed to watch the most part of the episode without getting distracted by Keefe’s arm, and felt quite proud of his accomplishment. 

Then Keefe started stroking his shoulder. Tam didn’t know if it was something conscious or if this was just natural to Keefe, but after that, Tam’s focus never was on the TV again. 

They “watched” two other episodes in this position, without Keefe even starting to realize what this was doing to Tam. Not that Tam particularly minded. He was confortable, and after the surprise passed, he found Keefe’s stroking soothing. Tam was the first one to start to doze off.

And if they finally fell asleep like that, it was nobody else’s business. 

*** 

Keefe woke up to something shifting behind him. A weight on his chest. A soft breathing on his torso.

_Tam._

“Fuck.”


End file.
